The American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Diversity announced the winners of the 2014-15 Spectrum Scholarships with five University of Washington Information School master of library and information science (MLIS) students among the 50 winners. The UW iSchool was among the top three MLIS programs receiving awards.
Winners include: Karen Chen, first year residential student (ProQuest Scholar); Xochitl Rocha, first year residential student (ALSC Scholar in honor of Ellen Fader); Katherine Van Arsdale, incoming online student (ProQuest Scholar); April Ybarra, first year online student; and Jessica Humphries, incoming student (ProQuest Scholar).
According to the ALA press release, the Spectrum Scholarship Program received three times as many applications as there were available scholarships, and the majority of this year’s applicants were deemed highly fundable. A prestigious committee of seven jurors selected this year’s Spectrum Scholars based on their commitment to diversity, commitment to entering the library profession, demonstrated community outreach, academic ability and achievements and leadership potential. Since 1997, the ALA has awarded more than 850 Spectrum Scholarships.
ALA also announced a new level of support from ProQuest for the Spectrum Scholarship Program. Beginning this year through 2016, ProQuest will donate $52,000 to fund seven scholarships annually plus one dedicated in memory of Ron Clowney, a former ProQuest executive. Two of these scholarships were awarded to iSchool students.
Spectrum recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and our organization. The aim is to increase the number of racially and ethnically diverse professionals in the field of library and information science to best position libraries at the core of today’s culturally diverse communities.